wonderingdev

8 ms·

1.
by wonderingdev 5y ago
How can something bringing value (read: money) to a lot of companies all around the world be considered "cargo cult"? As developers we are lucky enough that the market is so so wide, that if you don't like a company (heck,
2.
by wonderingdev 5y ago
If you don't really like your job as an engineer, it makes total sense. Management means, well, management: check on people, approve time off, help people with some wise-sounding standard advice and fake coaching. I've thought abo
3.
by wonderingdev 6y ago
On such a long term horizon, you should consider staff turnover, which is never zero. So, no, what you're inferring from those "postulates" is incorrect. I worked for a big dotcom company in the past and 1) there was a cap on
4.
by wonderingdev 6y ago
I'm not talking about company's goals, but those that some companies want ICs to set for themselves. Obviously companies must have some key objectives to present to the public.
5.
by wonderingdev 6y ago
And that's a great explanation of the theory behind that :) and it delights me, every time. But the question, alas, remains unanswered: "would everything work well anyway without such a framework?" Basically I'm curious
6.
by wonderingdev 6y ago
Keep in mind that I'm referring to personal goals, set for each IC/employee in the company. In theory they should be aligned with company's goals.
7.
by wonderingdev 6y ago
How would that help precisely? You should put more effort in hiring, if you're worried about developers not understanding how to help a company grow. In the past I worked for startups and very small startups. The wannabe-corp ones have
8.
by wonderingdev 6y ago
Looks like a sick trick, doesn't it? :) I wouldn't want to work for a company that sees that this way.
9.
by wonderingdev 6y ago
I might argue then that your company does a bad job at hiring :) Also, do you also ask yourself: what is my manager doing? I do and in good, healthy companies I can see that.
10.
by wonderingdev 6y ago
Not sure about that. Also I believe there are alternative to micromanagement for a similar purpose[1]. 1. https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2006/08/10/the-identity-manag...
11.
by wonderingdev 6y ago
And we need those tools for that purpose because? It's been proven that employees don't normally do that? Genuine question, looking for data here
12.
by wonderingdev 6y ago
Should my boss answer like that, I would be very offended, since I'm a fairly senior developer who doesn't want to manage people and thinks he knows where he's going. If he said that referred to the HR intern, well, he could
13.
by wonderingdev 6y ago
In my company we have a different "trial period" for promotions and "role-shifting", outside the goals' framework. In my case that doesn't apply then, but I understand your point. You can as well put in place g
14.
by wonderingdev 6y ago
Why do you have to micromanage? Why do you have to measure productivity (especially if the team if productive as a whole - and that's always visible)? Genuinely asking
15.
by wonderingdev 6y ago
I get your point. So the premise is that employee's personal desires and company's objectives don't usually tend to align themselves naturally, right? If there were no goals in place, would that be bad? How bad?
16.
by wonderingdev 6y ago
I'm familiar with it. Question remains: what's the strongest argument (with supporting data) that it improves something in the company? Anything, even the employee's mood, productivity, etc.
17.
by wonderingdev 6y ago
My point is: do you need goals for that? People that want to grow into more senior roles just naturally do more. It happened to me to have goals that were mere exercises: write a blog post, read that book, follow that course. I'd do th
18.
by wonderingdev 6y ago
So you value them, right? You must have evidence that they work obviously, would you mind sharing some examples of that? If your company didn't have this policy on goals, would you introduce one?
19.
Ask HN: Why do companies ask employees to set goals?
71 points by wonderingdev 6y ago|94 comments